• + Merging worldwide PV and CV engineering for greater synergy
  • + Product Platform structure delivers results through global ownership

Engineering the Future

Posted 08.12.2009

  • Email This
  • Print
    • Close
    • MixxMixx
    • DiggDigg
    • FacebookFacebook
    • deliciousdelicious
    • redditreddit
    • StumbleUponStumbleUpon
    • MySpaceMySpace!
    • TwitterTwitter
    Share

Honeywell is creating clearer engineering pathways around the world to enhance its ability to develop turbo solutions for some of the automotive industry’s most pressing challenges. As emissions standards become tougher – and consumer demand grows for fuel efficiency and improved CO2 control – Honeywell is integrating its passenger car and commercial vehicle engineering functions within a single structure to augment its engineering support for customers.

Craig Balis

The changes will facilitate the transfer of best-in-class technology to automotive OEMs irrespective of vehicle segment and their impact will reach around the world to ensure that the company’s world-leading expertise in areas such as aerodynamics, materials technology, rotating systems, simulation, test and sensing and control will become front-line customer resources. It is envisioned that this integration will lead to significant improvement in product development times.

Craig Balis, Vice President of Engineering at Honeywell Turbo Technologies, says that the changes will deliver stronger engineering connections with customers.

“Our customers design and engineer powertrains and look to Honeywell to deliver turbo solutions that integrate seamlessly into their engine systems,” says Craig Balis. “Everything we do must facilitate that process – this new structure will make our global knowledge easier to share, create stronger focus for our engineering expertise and enhance our ability to drive improvements in technology and turn these advances into real market-driven solutions.”

image

Under the new structure, Honeywell’s global engineering community will concentrate on five distinct product areas: gasoline, large VNT, small VNT, 2 stage and wastegate, and large turbo and thermal technologies. There will be a single point of accountability for each product area – a key global manager within Honeywell who owns responsibility for product development and program delivery.

One major benefit for customers will be clearer pathways for the transfer of technologies across all product streams. For example, passenger car customers will gain exposure more readily to appropriate technology developed for applications in the commercial vehicle arena. Likewise, CV customers will more easily benefit from developments in areas such as aerodynamics, bearings and NVH performance originally developed for passenger car turbos.

This new approach might, for example, lead to the development of a medium-duty turbo application that combines the packaging and high volume capabilities learned in passenger cars with the heavy-duty performance and reliability of the CV domain. Conversely the light-truck/SUV segment might benefit from the knowledge gained from making larger turbos for commercial vehicles.

“This is all about making better engineering connections,” says Craig Balis. “Our customers face a barrage of challenges, so we need to make sure that we understand exactly what they need….and then deliver it. These changes will enhance our engineering efficiency, streamline our processes, speed our execution and, most importantly, improve our ability to develop and deliver products that better serve our customers’ needs.”

Photo Credit: Jindřich Špaček, Gilles Dacquin